Foe Charges Impropriety In Wilder Property Deal

RICHMOND — Republican gubernatorial candidate J. Marshall Coleman charged Tuesday that his opponent, L. Douglas Wilder, maintained an interest in a run-down rental property after Wilder told building officials he had sold it.

The property on 32nd Street in Richmond, which Wilder said he sold in January 1986, was cited by city building inspectors after neighbors had complained about its run-down condition.

In the sharply worded statement that referred to the transfer as a "sham," Coleman said financial disclosure records showed that Wilder or a member of his family had an interest in HLS Associates, indicating that he had never given up his interest in the property.

After Wilder said he transferred the property to HLS Associates Trust, city officials dismissed a building code summons against him, Coleman said in a written statement released Tuesday.

"These highly unusual business arrangements have at least the appearance of impropriety and deception," Coleman said in the statement.

Coleman called on Wilder to disclose further details of his involvement in HLS Associates and his interest in the property.

H. Louis Salomonsky, a Wilder backer who serves as trustee for HLS Associates, could not be reached for comment Tuesday afternoon.

No one was available at Wilder's campaign headquarters to comment. Wilder is on a campaign tour of Southwest Virginia.

In releasing the statement and charges late Tuesday afternoon, Coleman's campaign copied a tactic Coleman had criticized Wilder for using. Coleman had said earlier that Wilder was practicing "guerrilla warfare by press release" by making charges in the late afternoon, catching Coleman's staff unprepared to respond.

The late release made independent verification of many of the charges impossible since state and city offices were already closing.

Coleman had first tried to raise the issue of Wilder's property - which he refers to as "slum property" - during a July 22 debate. But Wilder walked away from the debate, refusing to participate because Coleman's campaign had intended to film it for later use in its commercials. Wilder said they had an agreement not to film the meeting; Coleman said they did not.